well after 75,000km of beatings from northern ontario roads, my truck was telling me it was in need of some attention. even after having the front pads and rotors replaced, and the rears inspected and cleaned, i was getting some decent pulsing and shaking while braking at speeds above 40km/h or so. i was also noticing a chatter while making slight turns during acceleration from a stop. i have the 3.55LS diff and figured it was something to do with that. into the dealership i went with the intentions of a front end inspection and rear diff oil change. they told me not to bother with the diff oil change because ford's f-150 service manual doesn't recommend it at that mileage. instead they told me that the clutch packs were probably worn, and that would cost about $600 to replace. the truck has never been abused, driven lightly, hardly tow anything, and i just refused to believe that's what the issue was. i told them to just change the oil anyways and make sure they add the friction modifier. the strange part is that when they called me to tell me the clutch packs were indeed worn, i asked them if they had dropped the diff cover and the oil, and they said no. how could they know then for sure? they also said the lower ball joints were loose and needed replacing, so i agreed to that. well low and behold, the truck brakes perfectly smooth now, feels tighter on the bumps, and the chatter is completely gone. it cost 600 dollars for all of that, but i feel good about it, espescially since it solved both the problems i was complaining about. next up is bilstein shocks all around, probably this summer, and i'll do it myself. should i bother changing my front diff oil too anytime soon?

thanks for the time.

2003 F150 4.6 4X4 Lariat Supercab Flareside